


Fanning the Flame

by FeatherQuill



Category: The Hobbit RPF
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Restaurants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-09
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-13 20:20:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4535958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeatherQuill/pseuds/FeatherQuill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Richard is one of  the best chefs in London, his Restaurant, „The Cubicle“ gets flaming reviews from food critics around the globe. He can finally pay his rent when its due. Problem one? He also has the temper of a Dwarf, or so they say, because it is very short. Drop in his new waiter, Lee – who is adoringly charming and Richard only hired him because he accidentally hit him with a frying pan on his first day. Problem two? He is about to fall in love with the clumsy American. In short – he is doomed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fanning the Flame

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this idea came to me - literally as I slept and it burnt so much under my fingernails that I just _had_ to write it down in one go. I hope you enjoy this little thing and would be grateful to know what you think :)

“The Cubicle” was packed and the patrons who were lucky enough to get a table were more than pleased with their food. It was a tad more expensive but they paid gladly and silently. Richard grinned , well – he glared – his grin was more inwards but if you knew him well enough, like Graham did, he was practically _beaming_ and Graham had known him for a bloody long time. And he also was well aware of the moods Richard could slip into. There had been a number of waitresses ( and waiters for that matter ) the man had reduced to tears before he had fired them. 

Graham didn´t comment on it much, since it wasn´t his place to make such decisions, after all he was only accounts manager because as ingenious Richard was behind a stove as lousy he was at keeping his books. With a snort he remembered Richards outrageous cry and screaming bloody murder at his landlord after receiving a note of eviction, only to notice that he in fact hadn´t paid the rent for three months after all. Luckily those times were past now and something like that would never happen again if he could help it. 

His attention snapped back to the present and to Richard who was currently turning red and soon after a lovely shade of purple. An interesting hue, Graham had to admit. The reason for it was painfully obvious to him as his gaze traveled from Richard to the source of noise he hadn´t been able to place a moment ago. It clicked into place soon enough. 

Richard wasn´t the only person with a face resembling a hydrant. Lee awkwardly shuffled from left to right, hands clasped nervously in front of himself, biting his lip. The poor lad looked as if he was about to cry at any moment and Graham couldn´t blame him. Richard had fired people for less than dropping a whole stack of expensive plates. 

The rest of the staff gathered nervously and a bit excited in the kitchen doorway, while Graham watched openly. He couldn´t get fired after all. 

“S-sorry. Mr.Armitage. I-i-i..tripped. I´ll pay for that, I s-swear.”

The poor thing was actually trying not to cry in the fully packed restaurant, causing curious glances to be thrown at him. Richard, fists clenched at his sides stormed into the kitchen, handed him a hand brush. 

“I don´t pay you enough to pay that Lee! Clean that up and get out of my sight.”

He hissed, shoving the brush into the Americans hands and leaving him standing there before he stormed back into the kitchen,yelling at the broccoli he had been preparing when the ruckus had caused him to leave his beloved pans and pots in the first place. Why on earth had he hired the clumsy git anyways? His gaze lingered on the frying pan to his left. Oh right. 

**_Six months ago_ **

 

To say that Richard Armitage was having a bad day at “The Cubicle” was if stating that the world was round. It was a Monday, a pretty sunny one at that but Richard was about to shoot the next fucking bird that dared to sing. Why? Because, after working his bloody arse off he wasn´t going to let inapt staff ruin his good reputation. A very well known and worse , beloved member of the London High Society had complained because his waiter had drenched her designer gown, pristine white as it were , in red whine. His teeth were bared and he looked at the kid in front of him.

“Oh come on. Those people buy that shit by the dozen, so what´s the deal mate?”

Nobody he paid would dare to mention it but there was a growl crawling up his wind pipe and left his mouth mere seconds before he grabbed the frying pan next him and hauled it in the general direction of the kid.

“You insolent bastard! Get your sorry hide out of here before I have your bollocks put on the menu after I cut them of myself!”

The whole place had fallen silent. Now, if Richard had paid attention to the things he did when he was enraged he would have noticed the very tall gentleman clearing his throat, a paper under his arm. Richard had also forgotten about the job advertisement he had Graham place a week before, looking for new waiters because, frankly he had been fed up with the kid he now had fired. There were moments in everbodys life he guessed when shit was about to hit the fan and you couldn´t do a thing about it. 

Frozen on the spot he was standing, arm raised in mid air, he watched in utter horror as the friendly smile vanished from the strangers face, hazel eyes budged and a pretty mouth opened in utter surprise , approximately ten seconds before the pan hit the man square in the face because the idiotic kid he had aimed for had been fast enough to duck. It happened all in a surreal slow motion.  
The guy let out a painful scream, flew backwards and landed with a dull noise on the floor, knocked out cold.  
It was only then Richard sprung into action, darting past the waiter he had fired and looked at the man sprawled out on his expensive carpeting. There was a large bruise forming on his forehead and Richard squashed the urge to notice how beautiful the man was. Instead he slapped him, hoped he would come to in the next minute and that nobody in the packed place would take a picture of that.  
Also he started to pray that the guy wouldn´t sue him. By god, he couldn´t afford another lawsuit when things finally started to look up.  
There was a moment of panic swelling in his chest before he let out a relieved sigh as the man finally blinked. 

“Ouch. You could´ve just said that the job is already taken, no need to take me out.”

Richard blinked and gave a snort. Americans, he thought but helped the poor man up and ignored the strange fluttering in his chest as Lee – if he heard correctly, laughed and told him why he was there in the first place. 

**_Present Day_ **

Lee felt the sharp prick of tears behind his eyes but refused to give into the childish need to weep, drop the brush in his hands and flee the scene. It was true, he was a crappy waiter and he couldn´t understand why Richard had hired him in the first place. It was probably because he felt guilty about their first meeting , if you could call it that. Nobody said it, but he was sure that the rest of the staff thought it. He swallowed around the lump in his throat and focused on cleaning up the mess he made. _Again._ , a little ironic voice, sounding much like Richard himself whispered nastily inside his mind. It had been pity, he guessed bitterly, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. God, he felt stupid, after all Richard was his boss, had every right to threat him like that if he pleased to.  
Lee hadn´t even lied in his application, really. He had been looking for a part time job while he spent the year overseas , trying for his drama classes. He was an aspiring actor, not a waiter. It had stood there, neatly typed but Richard hadn´t even looked at that, just hired him on the spot.  
The damn pan wouldn´t even have hit him if the sight of the man in front of him hadn´t rendered him speechless back then. That wouldn´t help him now, would it. 

A humorless chuckle rose in throat as he slapped himself mentally for the silly thought. Richard had made pretty clear what he had thought of him, hadn´t he? Someone placed a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see Graham looking down at him. The older man was friendly, understanding – even if he didn´t sugarcoat things. 

“He didn´t mean it like that. Come on, Lee. You know how he can be. Tomorrow he will have forgotten all about it. Have a drink, suck it up.”

Lee shook his head, running a hand through his messy hair. Richard might forget that, but he wouldn´t. With a sigh and hunched shoulders he thanked the other man for his concern and left for the day – he wouldn´t get paid for it anyways and in the state he was in, he was no use , no use at all. Graham watched him go, jaw set in determination. It couldn´t go on like that. Not if he wanted to keep the last of his nerves in the end. He turned on his heal, marched into the kitchen and dragged a befuddled looking Richard at his lapel right into his office. 

“What the hell?”

Graham crossed his arms over his chest, not fazed by the tone of voice in the slightest. He gave Richard a piercing stare, nodded. 

“You are an arsehole, you know that? The worst person on this bloody earth.”

Richard opens his mouth around words not wanting to come out, closes it again and breathes through his nose. 

“I know what people say, thank you for reminding me. Can I go back to work now, there are bills that need to be paid.”

He groused, narrowing his eyes. He didn´t know what had gotten into his friend but he didn´t want to dwell on it and tried to leave. Graham blocked his way rather effectively.

“Okay, what is this about?”

There is an edge in Richards voice, something gritty that would make lesser man shiver but Graham just shakes his head, remains calm.

“Fire him, if you must. He is a shitty waiter, so what if he sues you. You have been sued before and you have fired people for less but you don´t have to be cruel to the boy to feel better. He broke some dishes, so what of it?”

The floor is so very interesting now that Richard finds it suitable to stare holes into it while he mumbles something that doesn´t quite Grahams ears. Grahams steps closer, cups a hand around his ear. 

“What was that?”

He tries and he can practically hear how Richard grits his teeth. He has his suspicions , mind you. Especially after he on one memorable occasion watched Richard burn perfectly fine lamb chops to a crisp as Lee all but danced into the place after hearing that his sister had given birth to a baby girl back in the states. 

**_Three months ago_ **

“Her name is Harper, isn´t she cute?” Lee gushed, making cooing sounds and proudly passing his mobile around so everyone could take a long good look at his newborn niece.  
“You can see, she got her mothers face.”  
A gaggle of smiling staff members was gathered in the still closed restaurant, making noises that agreed on the proud uncles exclamations.  
“I swear, I will spoil her rotten, if ..if I get a raise.”

That caused roaring laughter all around and Lee blushed, tucking his phone away as Richard poked his head out of the kitchen.

“Hi Mr.Armitage.” 

He said shyly, waving. Richard stared blankly at Lee who took his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans, showing the picture to his employer with a smile. 

“ Isn´t that the cutest thing in the world?”

Richard didn´t even look at the blurry picture on the phone shoved into his face, eyes fixed on the man in front of him.

“Yes.”

He rasped out before wrinkling his nose, eyes widening in horror. His lamp chops. When he reached the stove, they were burnt to a crisp and he threw them away with a curse.

**_Present day_ **

Graham tapped his foot impatiently on the floor, clearing his throat in annoyance. 

“I asked you something. As your friend.”

Inwardly Richard cursed. Of course Graham would play the friend card now when he needed it least. There were many reasons why he didn´t fire Lee. The customers loved him, adored the clumsiness he could make forget them with his charm and he had always a friendly word for everyone, no matter how shitty they treated him, although a nasty little voice in his head suggested he was the only one to yell at Lee because firstly he yelled at everyone and secondly there was something about the man that riled him up, made him loose focus on the simplest tasks. A luxury he couldn´t afford. Maybe, he thought – that wasn´t fair towards Lee. He didn´t know about Richards inner turmoil after all. 

“Alright, I apologize tomorrow , now – I need to start working before we are behind on schedule. You as my account manager should know that, shouldn´t you?”

The smile on his face vanished. 

“What? Did he actually burn something this time?”

Graham remained stone faced, shook his head. 

“Two things. First – I am not sure if the poor lad comes back tomorrow – you said you wanted him gone. Second – If you don´t get it by now, nobody can help you.”

Four hours later and over cutting meat he came to a realization, stopped what he was doing and dropped the knife. It took him ten minutes to rush into his office, another fifteen to change into his casual wear and five more to stop dead in his tracks. With shaky hands he fumbled for the book he had jotted down everyone’s contact information, searched for Lees number. Mid dial, he hung up. This wouldn´t do.  
He was glad he didn´t crash his car on the way towards Lee. Due to his luck, it had started to rain the minute he had left the restaurant and now, fourty minutes later – he looked like a drowned rat. A drowned rat in a very expensive suit, but a drowned rat none the less. 

Lee opened his front door on the second ring, blinking with bloodshot eyes, rubbing sleep from them. Richard glanced at his watch, blushed a little as he noticed what time it was. Half past midnight. 

“Mr.Armitage?”

Lee yawned, stretching and making the pajama top he wore ride up. Richard cleared his throat, felt like an idiot but couldn´t say anything as Lee gave him a thin lipped smile.

“Couldn´t wait to fire me until tomorrow?”

He all but sniffed and Richard wanted to bang his head against something hard repeatedly, glancing longingly at the nearest wall. 

“Yes. I mean no! That´s not why I am here. Can I come in?”

Lee was confused, tired and a little heartbroken but ushered the older man inside his two room flat, pointing to the sofa, motioning for him to sit. Without another word he went to the bathroom and came back with a towel. Richard just blinked. 

“For your hair. I don´t want you to get a cold, so you can yell at everyone tomorrow.”

He said with a smile that didn´t quite reach his eyes, gasping as Richard pulled him down next to him. Lee gulped. 

“Mr.Armitage?”

He tried hesitantly, eyes bright and questioning. In the crappy romance movies he always watched (and not under torture admitting to it) this was the moment where people kissed. Automatically his eyes flew towards Richards mouth. He wasn´t really that clumsy, he just got distracted at work a lot – but there hadn´t been a way in hell that he could have said that out loud. He wasn´t dumb, had seen the way Richard sometimes looked at him a moment to long, a hand resting a second too long on his shoulder. Then his mind had set in, telling him that he _worked_ for the man, so he had tried to ignore it.

“Richard. Call me Richard.”

Richard, with a towel around his shoulders, dripping wet moved closer. He could feel the breath of the other man on his skin, closed his eyes and trembled. 

“Richard.”

He says and feels dumb, wants to laugh given the situation but his laugh dies in his throat as he is hauled against a firm body, lips pressed against his own, hands in his hair. He feels the arousal stir in his pants, moans against wet and inviting lips before he pushes Richard gently away, inhales greedily big gulps of air. 

“I won´t work for you anymore, because...because every time I will look at you, I will drop something and you will be mad and ..”

He is stopped by a hand on his lips.

“You don´t have to quit. Concentrate on work, you will get the hang of it.”

Richard promises softly, leans in again for another kiss before he laughs. 

“What?”

Lee frowns and Richard shakes his head, smirks. 

“Nothing. I was just thinking that I own Graham a huge bottle of my best wine, that is all.”

Lee chuckles, takes Richard by the hand and makes him in the next two hours forget everything about broken dishes, far too expensive wine and Graham, no matter how much he likes the man himself. 

_**Two years later** _

There is a mop of hair and chubby little arms that throw themselves around Lees neck, followed by an ear piercing squeal but he doesn´t mind.

“Uncle Lee, Uncle Richard!”

Harper gushes and looks at Richard with determination that should scare you on a child but doesn´t because Richard had been introduced to Lees sister, who had listened to everything that had happened between her baby brother and Richard before slapping him right across the face only to hug him afterwards, so nothing really surprised him anymore, eyes looking back in a subtle _safe me_ gesture as he is dragged into a room way too pink for his liking. Well, it was partly his fault, he knew – with the presents they both sent overseas and everything but still.

“I made lamp chop!”

Harper proclaims proudly, leaving Richard to stare at the poor stuffed animal, thrown into an overly large pot. 

“Oh, that´s lovely.” 

He says and she beams at him, darts off somewhere into the house and he nestles against Lee who is chuckling behind him.

“I created a monster.”

Lee kissed his ear, nodding. 

“Yes, you did. I still love you, though.”

He whispers gently and Richard turns, kissing the stuffing out of the taller man.

“Love you too.”

**The END**


End file.
